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 funchordsHelloPremium,MVM
join:2001-03-11
Yarmouth Port, MA
kudos:5 | reply to amungus
Re: I call bull When a spectacular accident happens on the freeway, everyone thinks they have the only cell phone for miles. So, everyone calls and the lines light up. If they spent any time on the line with your friend's girlfriend, then she was one of the first callers. Otherwise, they probably just confirmed she's reporting the same thing as everyone else and had nothing to add.
AGPS is brilliant, but klunky -- it has several points of possible failure. GPS is more direct. The article said something to the effect of the particular 9-1-1 center she reached didn't have the ability to trigger AGPS and that the local center is in the process of modernizing now in the victim's honor.
One problem is testability. How can I, Joe Public, test that my phone works without unduly taxing the call center? The system has no redundancies except for you being able to give your location.
--
Robb Topolski -= funchords.com =- District of Columbia -- KJ7RL
Evil does seek to maintain power by suppressing the truth, or by misleading the innocent. --Spock and McCoy stardate 5029.5 | |
amungusPremium
join:2004-11-26
America Reviews:
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| Still seems sad they went nearly 30 miles in the wrong direction  ..and that they couldn't have tried for a more precise location and then re-directed emergency responders while in route or something...
Didn't see that their call center was without the ability to "trigger AGPS" but I guess having them modernize is not a bad thing. All I saw in the article is:
"According to NENA, 7% of the nation's 911 centers are able to obtain only the location of the tower that picks up the wireless call and are not equipped to request GPS coordinates for the caller's location. More than 100 counties still have only this so-called Basic 911 service. Cellphone callers in these counties are unlikely to summon emergency services unless they can orally tell the operator where they are." Do digital cell towers even broadcast in a 30 mile range? I'd have to say no, they don't. Analog ones might, in extremely lucky conditions, but digital ones have far less range.
Surely with the ability to have ONLY that info, they could've provided a better response if they'd bothered (or been able) to double check...
Just sad... | |
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